Howard Koh, MD, MPH, assistant secretary for health at HHS, sat down with APHA Executive Director Georges Benjamin, MD, in March to talk about the Leading Health Indicators and how communities can use them to improve health.

Five years ago APHA launched a video envisioning the U.S. becoming the “healthiest nation in one generation.” On Day One of National Public Health Week national health leaders joined APHA to discuss how this vision can become a reality.

Does the nation’s health system discriminate by cultural background, or take diversity into consideration? On Wednesday, a panel of speakers announced a blueprint — formed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services — to address these questions.

Natural disasters took a massive toll on the U.S. last year, with Hurricane Sandy damages totaling nearly $50 billion and eastern thunderstorms in July leaving nearly 4 million homes and businesses without power. But the lasting impact of extreme weather and its effect on health moving forward may depend on researchers and health officials.

While the Supreme Court deliberates the future of the Affordable Care Act, health leaders promote collaboration to improve the nation’s public health and primary care systems in a special joint issue of APHA's American Journal of Public Health and the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

"Healthy People unifies the country...it drives action in a public way to make our country stronger and healthier," said Howard Koh, HHS assistant secretary for health, during Monday's launch of the "National Release of 2020 Leading Health Indicators" at the APHA Annual Meeting.